


the bridge.

by hicsvntdracones



Series: hq asoiaf au [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - A Song of Ice and Fire, Drowning, Gen, Prophetic Dreams, asoiaf au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-19 06:14:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3599406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hicsvntdracones/pseuds/hicsvntdracones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tobio didn't know what to expect of a king. Perhaps something grand and glorious, with billowing cloaks of ermine or silk. Tobio wondered what this king was like and why did he decide to visit Bitterbridge today.</p><p>[prompt 1 "beginning": the day Tobio learned he was the king's son. alt title "<i>the sins of our father</i>"]</p>
            </blockquote>





	the bridge.

 

 

The old stone of the bridge felt smooth under his feet. Worn by decades and centuries of travelers and carts. Horses and human alike. A breeze rustled the trees across the river and sent a spiral of blossoms whirling down to disappear against the water. He  inhaled the scent of spring. As he walked to the top of the bridge, where it curved and crossed and where he could see the river at its most beautiful, he reached for the edge. Looking down, he saw something most spectacular. 

A town, no, a city in truth. It sprawled out for what looked like forever and as he watched closer, he saw a grand sept rise in shimmering white and crystal, then beyond that, a castle of red and stone. He felt a surge in him, a wild curiosity for this city shining in the river below. He watched still. 

Gleaming gold and stunning white. 

Green and blue twisting into beautiful banners to cascade down marble walls. 

A throne of a thousand swords. 

He felt hands on him, then felt the water hit. 

He thrashed against the river, screamed when it yanked him further down like a hundred bricks. There was no city in the river, only pain. Opening his eyes, he watched the light from above go pitch black. Shadows swarming out from above the bridge to drown the river in darkness. He felt the water being poisoned, stained in sin and hate. It felt like mud and sludge clogging his throat suffocating him as he tried in vain to scream again.  He can't fight the water, can't fight this evil that's taking him down and down further until he finally feels himself letting go.

He heard  muffles of excitement, hushed voices in the hallway as he blinked himself awake. His mother crouched next to the bed and gently petted his hair. The bed was warm around him, and he instinctively moved to pull the sheets tighter. Petting his hair still, she called his name once more and with this, he woke.

She smiled at him as he drew himself up into a sitting position. The sun was barely breaking through the curtains, but everyone in the house was up and rustling about.

"The king has come to Bitterbridge." She said. He remembered the city of white and gold.

Tobio's  mother fussed with his clothes until she was called away by other children rushing about. He felt odd in these formal clothes. Honestly, they weren't that exceptional, just a tidy white shirt and stark black breeches. He only once had need for such clothes, and that was when the Steward of Highgarden had come to their town on  invitation from their lord. Bitterbridge was decorated and made elegant under their liege lady's watch, and as part of the event, there had been a small festival. His mother made him finer clothes for him to wear on this day only a few months past, and now he donned the clothes once more. The pants were just a hair short, showing his ankles after a few months of growth. It was almost time for spring to bloom, and Tobio smiled at the thought of the flowers blooming along the banks of the Mander. 

"Tobio, Miss Kageyama said  you hafta eat. " A girl of seven years popped her head in the door, and her little three-year old sister beside her grinned a half-toothless grin. He patted a hand over his hair to see if it was alright before leaving with the two girls of straw-colored hair.  Three other children sprinted down the hall eagerly rushing to breakfast, and Tobio heard one of the older girls shout at them to slow down. She greeted Tobio with a hello as she scooped up the toddler into her arms. He took her sister's hand as they made their way downstairs to the wide room of tables and chairs. Miss Kageyama had bought an old inn years ago and, alongside her late husband, furbished it into an orphanage where the childless would look after the parentless. She wasn't any of their mothers, but she was the closest thing to a mother Tobio had ever had. He thought about the name to himself sometimes at night. Between the soft snores of other orphan boys and bastards alike, he would whisper the name to himself and smile at the thought. Tobio Kageyama. 

He wondered what it was like to have a mother and a father. They all wondered this, but Tobio was content for now to have his dozens of siblings instead. 

The only question in the air was regarding the king. Why would the king come to Bitterbridge, everyone asked. 

They all wanted to go to the castle to see the king. Miss Kageyama was old friends with the lady of Bitterbridge, so she had permission to go.  All the children begged and pleaded, but Miss Kageyama firmly refused them all. Except for Tobio. He had only just begun to ask when she spoke instead.

"You'll be coming to the castle with me. Today, you will meet the king."

He stared up at her, only twelve years of age, and grinned in delight, not knowing the truth of it all.

Tobio didn't know what to expect of a king. Perhaps something grand and glorious, with billowing cloaks of ermine or silk. He knew the old king, the childless king, had  grey hair and pale eyes. Their legacy was that they were descended from dragons of ancient times , but they said he had died looking like a withered tree. Tall and old and without heir. That's how this new king had come about. The once Hand who was willed the throne when the true king died without anyone to follow him. He was the Lord of Highgarden, a man of the Reach made king. 

Tobio wondered what this king was like. What had six years of the throne done, and why did he decide to visit Bitterbridge today.

He had brown hair, Tobio noticed first. He wasn't made of wrinkles or ermine, and maybe that disappointed the orphan boy just a bit. He stood close to his mother and watched the king dismount from his horse and go forth to greet the lord  of their little town. He had brown hair, was only average height for a man, and seemed to wear a kinder smile than Tobio  expected from a king. As the former Lord of Highgarden, his mother had explained in a whisper, the king was friends with most all the lords and ladies of the Reach.

He saw a boy next. His horse had a beautiful buckskin coat, but its beauty paled in comparison to its rider. He had the same wavy brown hair in sweeps that framed his youthful and pretty face. He wore the same greens and blues of his father, and, tugging on his mother's sleeve to get her attention, Tobio asked if that boy was the prince.

"Yes, my dear. That's Tooru Oikawa, the crown prince."

"And him?" Tobio asked, motioning to the knight who dismounted and went to offer a hand to help Tooru down. He wore a more serious expression, and his hand fell automatically to the sword strapped to his hip. He was just as handsome if not more than the prince himself, and Tobio wondered how glorious it would be to be a knight too.

"That's ser Hajime, the heir to Oldtown. He's the prince's best friend and sworn shield."

"A Kingsguard?" Tobio gasped, and his mother hushed him quickly. No, no, she said. He was  only sixteen years of age, and no Kingsguard was so young. He scanned the king's party and saw the true Kingsguard . Men of valor and strength who wore white and wielded only the finest blades. His heart raced at the thought of such splendor. His mind spun at the thought of escaping this little Reach town and becoming a knight as strong as the songs. What a dream indeed.

He watched them all in silent awe.

Seeing the king and all his knights was enough for Tobio. He felt content and ready to return home to the orphanage. He thought of the expressions on the others'  faces as he recounted how striking the party from the capital was with their horses and armor and glory. This was enough for him, but that was only the start.

He laughed without realizing when the king spoke to him. It was just a little cough of a laugh, a scoff of disbelief.

The king had to be lying, he thought. 

There's no way it could be true.

Tooru watched him from  beside his father. He had refused to sit, refused to get on eye level with the black-haired boy. Tobio felt anxious under his gaze. It wasn't until the king had said it all that he could even begin to comprehend the prince's anger. 

A bastard.

His father, the king's bastard.

Sitting here before him now.

No wonder he looked so furious. More than that, Tobio saw betrayal. A betrayal of his father, having had a child with a woman not his own wife. He thought the prince had looked so beautiful at first, but now he just looked mad. In a moment of bravery, he looked at the elder boy for just a moment and saw his knight had taken Tooru's hand in his. He thought of two best friends at the orphanage. Two girls who always clung to each other for comfort. Even the prince needed help sometimes, it seemed. Even if it was help not to lash out at this boy before him. He wondered if Tooru hated him. They didn't even know each other, and he could feel himself being judged without mercy. He felt Tooru's hazel eyes like they were picking him apart, finding all the faults and all the little things Tobio didn't like about himself.

He was the king's natural son.

He was Tooru's half-brother.

He was a bastard of royal blood.

Tobio stared at his hands and clasped them together in his lap, hoping he didn't shake.

The others found out so quickly that it amazed Tobio a bit. They all stared at him in wonder as he returned home an hour later accompanied by a man in a white cloak. His stomach hurt and his head ached. It was all too unreal.

He was packing when Akira entered his cramped, little room.

"Can we talk?" He muttered almost quiet enough for Tobio to miss it. They snuck away without the Kingsguard's notice.

The Mander flowed stronger today, and Tobio thought that perhaps it rained somewhere upriver. 

Akira hated it when Tobio watched his arm, stares at his hand and how it never moved much at all. He hated it, but every time Tobio saw him, he couldn't help but look and remember the day they tumbled down a ravine. His own shouts drowned out by Akira's scream. Blood pooling in the grass as Akira held onto his broken arm with the  other. Tobio's head had bled, leaving a scar under his temple to his ear. He couldn't walk for a week because of how his ankle had twisted beneath him.  But it wasn't like Akira's arm. Akira couldn't move his hand. Two years later, he couldn't move his hand except for an occasional twitch. 

He wondered if Tooru hated him. He knew Akira did.

"So you're the king's bastard?" He asked in a quiet, unmoving tone. Tobio nodded and heard Akira's thoughtful little hum.

"He wants you to return to the capital?" Tobio nodded again. Akira's dark eyes watched him, just like Tooru had watched him before. Judging, picking him apart. He remembered the day they fell into that ravine. Remembered the day they fell apart. The day they stopped talking just after Akira shouted at him to die.

Tobio forced himself not to stare, forced himself to watch the Mander flow from under the bridge southwards, southwards to Highgarden and to  Oldtown  and then to the sea itself. 

They stood unspeaking for so many minutes that Tobio realized how long they'd been gone for. Surely, the knight had realized the same.

"Akira—" He began, and as he turned, he saw the other orphan boy standing far too close. He felt frightened looking into Akira's black eyes. His hands shoved at Tobio's chest roughly, and Tobio felt himself fall.

It hurt. Drowning hurt. The water burned his lungs. His eyes stung. His arms ached from exhaustion.

He woke in someone's arms, coughing up river and the threat of death as air rushed into him instead. Tobio grabbed wildly at whoever it was, hand meeting wet armor and nails scraping down the breastplate to try to grab onto something real. Something safe. He saw the capital. He saw the sept and the keep, and a sob escaped him as life came back to him.   


"He's here!" The knight shouted, and Tobio curled closer as his coughs continued and the pain wracked his body time and time again. He felt the knight's strong arms bring him closer, one hand patting his back to coax more coughs and get the water out of his lungs. 

"Get that boy!" Someone shouted, and Tobio opened his eyes blearily to see the fleeing form of the boy he once called family. He slipped into the blackness of sleep without another thought.

"He's alright. He passed out not long after he choked up all the river water." Voices surrounded him, and he felt the same warm arms safe around him, holding him, carrying him to the castle where the  maester  and half the king's party rushed to them both. His breathing was still uneven. His lungs still burned. He was alive though, and he had this knight to thank.   


Tobio couldn't remember his name, but he remembered how the knight had held his prince. He remembered that this man was sworn to his half-brother, the king's true son.

"Hajime!" A voice rang out. It was full of fear and, gods, Tobio heard it crack halfway through his knight's name. He turned his head to see the prince push past people and rush to them both. Hajime inhaled deep, and exhaled the prince's name in a tired voice.

"Tooru—"

"What in the seven hells happened?" He asked as he looked from the soaking Hajime to the bastard curled in his arms. Before he could curse more, the maester hurried Tooru away and had Hajime set Tobio down on a nearby table for him to examine. Tobio saw the king — his father — enter in a worry and begin yelling at the man who had escorted Tobio home hours ago. Tobio couldn't find the strength to let go of Hajime entirely, so the knight stood by him and held onto his hand like he held the prince's.

"Tobio?" Hajime's voice had begun to feel familiar, and Tobio turned on instinct towards him. He held a small bundle of clothes and pressed them gently to Tobio's hands.

"I need to go speak to Tooru, _er_. To the prince. Will you be alright with the  maester  and ser Issei for now?" Nodding despite the desire to see Hajime stay, Tobio was left alone again. He fidgeted with the finer clothes for a moment before standing to change in silence.

"What were you thinking? What in the seven hells were you thinking, damnit ?" He shouldn't have been listening. He shouldn't have overheard the prince's rage and shouldn't have watched the encounter, but Tobio was too curious not to.

"I was thinking that he was drowning, and I had to save him. What was I supposed to think?"

"You could've died, Hajime! Did you think about that? Even for one second, did you think about the fact that you could've died?" Tooru snapped, throwing the knight's wet shirt at his head in anger. He would've thrown something worse, but nothing close sufficed. His eyes burned with unshed tears. H ajime  snapped back.

"Not really," He shouted, and Tobio saw Tooru flinch. "I needed to save him, so I did. That's all." Tooru stood in silence. Raging silence. Hajime let out a ragged sigh.

"He's your brother, Tooru. He could've died too, yknow."

"He means  _nothing _ to me." Tooru hissed.

Tobio bolted down the hall.

He said yes. 

The king hadn't given  Tobio  much of an option. He was the king, after all. But Tobio wanted him to know that he was as eager as the king was to join his court. To be his son.

The king smiled a weary and grateful smile.

Tobio knew nothing of this man. He knew nothing of Tooru or of Hajime or anyone else in King's Landing.

He knew only that he had always wanted a father and a mother, and now he had his blood. He had a true family at last, and that's all Tobio knew. The king offered  Tobio  a hand as he stood, and Tobio accepted . He prayed his hands didn't shake for the fear of this shimmering city and this castle of red and stone. He prayed that the capital would hold a better future than this small town of Bitterbridge. 

He prayed for something good.

He tried to forget how in his dreams  the shadows had stained the city and drug him down and down and down til all he saw was pain and death.


End file.
